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Ten years after Bart Lootsma’s seminal, sell-out book, “SuperDutch, New Architecture in the Netherlands”, the country’s younger practices demonstrate a consistent interest in finding original urban design solutions. But they are working on reduced budgets long after the Golden Age, that helped to launch practices like UN Studio and MVRDV, ended.
While the datascapes MVRDV became celebrated for embraced the entire “situation” of an architectural challenge, in a way that allowed the architect a certain measure of control, now it appears that the fad of datascaping has been usurped by environmental interests in advancing sustainable, people-centred architecture and the advantages of the informal. Nonetheless original uses of space and form, if less spectacular these days, prevails in the hands of the post-SuperDutch generation.
One of the most exciting interests of Dutch design that never fails to be given pride of place is landscape. West 8, set up by Adriaan Geuze in 1987, with their advanced multidisciplinary skills were, like MVRDV, included in SuperDutch, are still the leading, internationally known Dutch landscape practice, even though Mecanoo, founded in 1984 and better known for buildings, has created the Bijlmerpark in Amsterdam Southeast, “designed as an experience for the senses”, which opens this summer. This spring West 8’s connected series of parks next to the River Manzanares in Madrid is fully completed, following the placing underground of 43 km of motorway tunnels and exit routes. Two big concrete dome bridges celebrate the revitalisation of this down-at-heel district, their ceilings boating mosaic murals by Spanish artist Daniel Canogar depicting local residents.
SeARCH was founded in 2002 by Bjarne Mastenbroek and Uda Visser who claim that “our projects are conceived as landscapes... endless and open, they connect architecture with the urban, interior with exterior”. While their projects are very different to West 8’s there is...
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